Foreign investment in real estate led with a total of 9.93 billion rupees followed by financial and insurance activities with 2.15 billion rupees, the central bank said.

“About a third of the direct investment inflows originated from France (4.49 billion rupees), while those from China (2.44 billion) represented 17.9 percent of the total,” the bank said in a statement.

Famed for its white sandy beaches and luxury spas, the Indian Ocean island nation is diversifying its economy away from sugar, textiles and tourism into offshore banking, business outsourcing, luxury real estate and medical tourism. ($1 = 35.0800 Mauritius rupees)